Lottery ticket play action game

ABSTRACT

A lottery ticket comprising a first play area containing jig-saw type puzzle pieces which are to be matched with jig-saw type puzzle pieces set forth in a second play area wherein a minimum number of matches results in a prize being won.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] A lottery ticket having a play area containing a plurality offirst puzzle pieces which are in the form of a jig-saw type pieces and asecond play area which may contain corresponding jig-saw type pieceswherein when a preselected number of jig-saw type pieces from the firstplay area find correspondence in the second play area, a prize may bewon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Scratch-off lottery tickets are common in the lottery industry.Game data in the form of play symbols is covered by a scratch-off layerand when the scratch-off layer is removed, the game data is exposed.Once the scratch-off layer is removed, if the play symbols provide acertain pattern the player may win a prize. Thus, the typicalscratch-off tickets require the player to remove the scratch-off layerand immediately determine if and what type of prize has been won.

[0003] There is a growing need in the lottery industry to add diversityto the games that are played on a lottery ticket in addition toproviding the opportunity to win a prize. It is known to employ playsymbols in the form of letters, numbers, and objects such as fruit,automobiles and the like in order for the player to distinguish betweenprize winning symbols and non-prize winning symbols.

[0004] Jig-saw puzzles are a well known form of entertainment in whichthe user attempts to properly align jig-saw puzzle pieces with eachother to form a picture. Such puzzles are sold in kits comprisingseparated jig-saw puzzle pieces which are die cut in preselectedpatterns, typically in the form of eccentric shapes.

[0005] It would be a significant advance in the lottery ticket industryto provide a lottery ticket which brings a jig-saw type of format to alottery ticket as a form of amusement and as a means of winning a prize.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention is generally directed to a lottery ticketin which there is provided at least one first play area containingjig-saw type of puzzle pieces hereinafter referred to as “first jig-sawtype puzzle pieces”. A second play area, which may also contain multipleplay regions, contains pictures, shapes, illustrations or patterns (i.e.puzzles) of jig-saw type puzzle pieces (hereinafter referred to as“second jig-saw type puzzle pieces”) which may or may not form apattern. If a preselected number of first jig-saw type puzzle pieces inthe first play area find correspondence with second jig-saw type puzzlepieces in the second play area a prize may be won.

[0007] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a lottery ticket comprising:

[0008] a) a first play area comprising a plurality of first jig-saw typepuzzle pieces, each first jig-saw type puzzle piece being in the form ofa jig-saw type piece having at least one first piece mating surfaceadapted to mate to a complimentary mating surface of at least one otherfirst jig-saw type puzzle piece, said first jig-saw type puzzle piecesbeing covered by a removable scratch-off layer;

[0009] b) a second play area comprising at least one second play region,each second play region containing at least two second jig-saw typepuzzle pieces which may be of the same shape as one or more firstjig-saw type puzzle pieces located in the first play area, wherein if atleast two first jig-saw type puzzle pieces located in the first playarea find correspondence with at least two second jig-saw type puzzlepieces in a second play region, a prize may be won.

[0010] The lottery games played in accordance with the present inventionencompass both games of chance and probability games.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The following drawings in which like reference charactersindicate like parts are illustrative of embodiments of the invention andare not intended to limit the invention as described in the applicationherein.

[0012]FIG. 1 is a top view of an embodiment of the lottery ticket of thepresent invention with the scratch-off layers present in the first andsecond play areas;

[0013]FIG. 2 is a is a top view of the lottery ticket shown in FIG. 1with the scratch-off layers in the first and second play areas removed;

[0014]FIG. 3 is a top view of another embodiment of a lottery ticket ofthe present invention with a separate play region containing bonusjig-saw type puzzle pieces; and

[0015]FIG. 4 is a top view of a still further embodiment of theinvention showing an instant win feature.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a lottery ticket as anembodiment of the present invention in the form of a game of chance asmore fully described hereinafter. The lottery ticket 2 has a top face 4which includes at least one first play area 6 (one play area 6 is shownin FIGS. 1 and 2) comprised of a plurality of rows 8 and columns 10which together define a plurality of individual of individual playspaces 12 containing a first jig-saw type puzzle piece 14 as shown bestin FIG. 2.

[0017] Each of the jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 has at least one matingsurface 16. The mating surface 16 of the first jig-saw type puzzle piecemay be constructed to mate with a corresponding mating surface ofanother first jig-saw type puzzle piece which is more fully described inconnection with the second play area described hereinafter.

[0018] In a preferred form of the invention, the mating surface 16 iscomprised of a projection 18 and/or a cavity 20 having a shape forreceiving a projection 18. it will be understood that the first jig-sawtype puzzle pieces 14 may have multiple mating surfaces wherein eachmating surface, in a preferred form of the invention, has one or moreprojections 18 and/or cavities 20.

[0019] The first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 will typically comprise avariety of shapes, pictures, graphic designs and the like which caninclude rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, other polygons (e.g.pentagon) and eccentric shapes such as shown in the top row, right handcolumn identified as numeral 22 as shown in FIG. 2. First jig-saw typepuzzle pieces 14 may also be differentiated from each other by color.

[0020] Each of the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 may be providedwith indicia 25 (e.g. numbers, letters, icons, symbols, pictures,illustrations, graphic designs and combinations thereof) for assistingthe player in identifying those first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 fromthe first play area 6 which match corresponding second jig-saw typepuzzle pieces identified in the second play area 24 as described below.

[0021] The lottery ticket 2 also includes a second play area 24 which isemployed by the player to match first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 inthe first play area 6 with second jig-saw type puzzle pieces appearingin the second play area 24. If a preselected minimum number of matchesare made, a prize may be won.

[0022] The second play area 24 comprises at least one game region 26(four game regions identified by the words Puzzle A, B, C, and D areshown in the specific embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2). Each of the gameregions 26 includes at least two second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28which may be, but are not required to be mated through the matingsurfaces 16. In a preferred form of the invention, the second jig-sawtype puzzle pieces 28 are mated to form a shape (e.g. triangle) or otheridentifiable relationship between pieces (e.g. a picture, illustration,pattern, graphic design, object or the like). The first jig-saw typepuzzle pieces 14 from the first play area 6 may or may not findcorrespondence with second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28 in the secondplay area 24. Each of the second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28 may beidentified by the same indicia 25 described above for the first jig-sawpuzzle pieces 14 appearing in the first play area 6. The second gameregions 26 may contain the same or different number of second jig-sawtype puzzle pieces 28, and may include identical puzzle pieces.

[0023] A lottery ticket lottery game in accordance with the presentinvention may be played as a game of chance by removing the scratch-offlayer from the entire first play area 6 to reveal the various firstjig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 appearing therein. It will be noted thatthe arrangement of jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 in the first play area6 is shown in a series of rows and columns. However, any arrangement ofthe first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 may be employed in the presentinvention including circles, letters, symbols and the like.

[0024] Once all of the jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 are revealed in thefirst play area 6, the player looks to each of the game regions 26 todetermine if there are any matches between the first jig-saw type puzzlepieces 14 and the second jig-saw type puzzle pieces 28 appearing in thegame regions 26. By way of example, puzzle A has four second jig-sawtype puzzle pieces 28 (identified by the indicia 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A). Theplayer reviews the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 contained withinthe play area 6 and notes that first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 (1Aand 2A) find correspondence in puzzle A by the appearance of jig-sawtype puzzle pieces 28 identified by the same indicia 1A and 2A. If twomatches in puzzle A meet the minimum criteria for winning a prize forthat particular game region, then a prize will be won. If not, (e.g. ifat least three puzzle pieces must be matched), then the lottery ticketis not a winner for puzzle A. The player repeats the procedure describedabove for the remaining game regions 26 (i.e. puzzles B-D) to determineif a prize has been won. The player may win a prize if one played gameregion meets the minimum matching requirements, or a larger or multipleprizes may be won if the minimum matching requirement is met in two ormore game regions. Furthermore, one or more of the game regions 26 shownin FIGS. 1 and 2 may be designated as a bonus game region in which adifferent prize may be won than the prizes associated with the othergame regions.

[0025] The lottery ticket shown in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2 hasbeen described in connection with a game of chance in which the winningor losing of the game is entirely controlled by the lottery ticket andnot by the player. This is accomplished by requiring the player to playall of the first jig-saw type puzzle pieces.

[0026] However, the present invention may be played as a probabilitygame by requiring the player to play less than all of the first jig-sawtype puzzle pieces. Referring to FIG. 1, the first play area 6 containsa total of 30 play spaces 12 each containing a single first jig-saw typepuzzle piece 14. In accordance with one example of a probability gameformat, the player would be instructed to remove the scratch-off layerfrom less than all of the individual play spaces 12 (e.g. remove thescratch-off layer from only 20 of the 30 individual spaces) so that theoutcome of the game is in part dependent on which individual spaces areselected by the player.

[0027] In a further embodiment of the invention, the lottery ticket maybe provided with a bonus puzzle piece section enabling the player toplay one or more additional first jig-saw type puzzle pieces which donot appear in the first play area.

[0028] Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a bonus puzzle piece section30 containing at least one (only on is shown) bonus jig-saw type puzzlepiece 32 which may find correspondence with a second jig-saw type puzzlepiece 28 in the second play area 24 to increase the possibility ofwinning a prize. It should be noted that the bonus puzzle piece sectionmay be used as an instant prize awarding section by identifying thebonus puzzle piece as an instant prize winner through, for example, someform of identifying indicia such as an asterisk.

[0029] In a further embodiment of the invention, either or both ofpreselected first jig-saw type puzzle pieces 14 and second jig-saw typepuzzle pieces 28 may be designated for instant win prizes. Referring toFIG. 4, there is shown an instant win feature associated with both thefirst play area 6 and the second play area 24. It will be understoodthat the optional instant win feature shown in FIG. 4, may appear onlyin the first play area 6 or the second play area 24.

[0030] The first play area 6 shown in FIG. 4 has an individual space 12containing a first jig-saw type puzzle 14 (designated by the indicia“4C”) which is marked with, for example, an asterisk indicative of aninstant win prize. The marking may include a prize amount (e.g. $5).

[0031] The second play area 24 is shown in FIG. 4 as also having aninstant win prize with regard to the second jig-saw type puzzle piece 28identified by the indicia “4B” which, like the first jig-saw puzzlepiece “4C” is marked with an asterisk.

[0032] Referring to FIG. 1, the indicia 25 which appears on thescratch-off layer on top of the jig-saw puzzle pieces 28 in the secondplay area 24 may be imprinted thereon through a technique described inDesbiens (Reissue Pat. No. 34,673) incorporated herein by reference.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lottery ticket comprising: a) a first play areacomprising a plurality of first jig-saw type puzzle pieces having atleast one first mating surface adapted to mate to a complimentary matingsurface of at least one other first jig-saw type puzzle piece, saidfirst jig-saw type puzzle pieces being covered by a removablescratch-off layer; b) a second play area comprising at least one secondplay region, each second play region containing at least two secondjig-saw type puzzle pieces which may be of the same shape as one or morefirst jig-saw type puzzle pieces located in the first play area. whereinif at least two second jig-saw type puzzle pieces in a second playregion are matched with first jig-saw type puzzle pieces in the firstplay area a prize may be won.
 2. The lottery ticket of claim 1 whereinthe at least two second jig-saw type puzzle pieces are mated to eachother or at least one other second jig-saw type puzzle piece through amating surface.
 3. The lottery ticket of claim 2 wherein the at leastone mating surface comprises at least one projection or cavity orcombination thereof complimentary in shape to a corresponding projectionor cavity in the mating surface of another first jig-saw type puzzlepiece.
 4. The lottery ticket of claim 1 comprising a plurality of secondplay regions.
 5. The lottery ticket of claim 1 wherein the first playarea comprises a plurality of individual spaces, each space containingat least one first jig-saw type puzzle piece.
 6. The lottery ticket ofclaim 4 wherein each of the second play regions contains the same numberof second jig-saw type puzzle pieces.
 7. The lottery ticket of claim 4wherein not all of the second play regions contain the same number ofsecond jig-saw type puzzle pieces.
 8. The lottery ticket of claim 1wherein the first play region comprises a plurality of individualspaces, each space containing at least one first jig-saw type puzzlecovered by a scratch-off layer, wherein up to all of the first jig-sawtype puzzle pieces are exposed by removing the scratch-off layer.
 9. Thelottery ticket of claim 8 wherein less than all of the first jig-sawtype puzzle pieces are exposed by removal of the scratch-off layer. 10.The lottery ticket of claim 1 further comprising a bonus sectioncontaining at least one first jig-saw type puzzle piece.
 11. The lotteryticket of claim 1 further comprising at least one bonus game region inthe second play area.
 12. The lottery ticket of claim 1 wherein at leastone of the first and second jig-saw type puzzle pieces comprises aninstant win feature.
 13. The lottery ticket of claim 1 wherein thesecond jig-saw type puzzle pieces in at least one of the second playregions forms a pattern.